(upbeat music) - I was so caught up in the hype of last night's act. I totally forgot what day of the week it was. - Yeah, you thought today was Wednesday, but it's not. - I scheduled the overrated underrated tweet, and it's like, we full on had this discussion yesterday. We were gonna make, we made the team decision to postpone overrated underrated Wednesday to Thursday so that it would not interfere with game one of Canucks Oilers last night. And I knew about this, and yet still, when I went to schedule the tweet this morning, I tweeted as if today was Wednesday. - I mean, hey, the last night's game will have that effect on you. - Better than the reverse, too. Better to think it's Wednesday and have it be Thursday and then think it's Thursday and have it be Wednesday. - You're right, you know what? 'Cause we all get into situations where we feel like we're in a different day, right? But it's the worst when it's like, you know, and especially if you have a job where you look forward to the weekend. - When you're further away from the weekend? - Honestly, nowadays, I don't even care anymore, 'cause like, we love what we do or whatever. And honestly, during the season, it's just like, you know, we're working for much every day anyway, so it doesn't matter. - What's a weekend? - Yeah, exactly. But I've had jobs for, you know, in the past where it's like, man, today really feels like Wednesday. But it's Monday. - Yeah. - This is not good. - No. - This is a really bad feeling. - Maybe the time you should think twice about the position you're currently in. - Yes. (laughing) - Yeah, all right, we'll get to some of your texts and comments as well from game one and moving forward in the series. Canucks Central is for Enzahn Pacific Vancouver's Premier Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep Superstore on Second Avenue between Canby and Maine, or at Enzahn Pacific Chrysler.ca. Canucks playoff coverage on Sportsnet 650, brought to you by West Side Pest Control. Protect your home with West Side Pest Control. They have the tools and know-how to eliminate your ant problem. Stop the destruction, visit westsidepestcontrol.com. So Miller and Besser, suitor, again, had a really strong night. Of course they connect on, well, it was a four and four goal, but Miller and Besser connect on the four, three goal. And then you see Besser at the end of the game as well, helping close out the victory. I know Besser's done a lot from a goal scoring perspective here, Seth, but I know you wanted to talk a little bit more about how he's upped his game in other areas, too. - So listen, points are great. You want guys to produce. What I want, though, is guys to win games in the playoffs. Play winning hockey, right? And for all the criticism about Patterson, one of the things we talked about from the first game last night was winning hockey, right? Like that's the type of hockey he played. And Brock Besser exemplified that to a tee to close that game out last night. I mean, he's blocking shots, one leg, the second leg. He's in pain, clearly. He's out of gas, but he's closing out, like his life depends on it. Going from closing out the point to the guy on the half wall to the point to the half wall, trying to block the shot. I mean, he's giving every ounce of energy he has left to close that game out for the Canucks last night. I've never seen Brock Besser be such a demon pressing guys in his own zone to close a game out. It shows you why the coach has so much confidence in him in those situations and has him out there. But that to me last night was a real monster performance defensively and in the tough areas last night for Brock Besser. - There's a lot about this team that has been admirable in the transformation they've undergone over the last 12 months under Rick Tockett, 12 plus months under Rick Tockett. Besser's one is as big as there is on the team from where he was a year ago to what he's been and meant to this team this season. The 40 goals, the hat trick against Nashville has been a consistent offensive performer and now doing this in the postseason as well. Brock understands he's got to be able to show that he can do this in the postseason too, not just score goals in the regular season. He alluded to that in a great piece that Ian McIntyre did during the first round. And seeing Brock play like this, it adds to the question marks of what his future looks like in Vancouver. Not that I want to get too deep into those kinds of conversations, but they are inevitable. But Brock has yet now proven he can be a guy you can rely on in the playoffs at least to this point he has. - Yeah, and from the organization's perspective, what he's shown this season in the regular season, but also what he's showing now here in the playoffs, does that, I wouldn't say change their view because maybe their view has been very positive from the beginning because from the beginning, they liked them. They signed them to the three year extension, right? They didn't just give them away or try to trade them for anything. They still held on and wanted value and ultimately didn't make the trade, right? So there's still obviously some level of respect and admiration for the player and him being part of things. And it is the playoffs I really change things for you sometimes. Is he doing something here that makes the organization realize that he can make it work here long term? You know that, hey, this is a guy maybe we should extend. And the only way you feel comfortable doing that is if you believe a guy can be productive and be the type player you can win in the playoffs. And because the speed isn't the name of his game, he's still having a lot of success. So with that, do you have the same level of concerns about what is it gonna look like in three to four years? But these are the things that kind of go into the equation when you're evaluating Brock Besser, but playing like the way he did last night, playing the way he's played for the large part here in the postseason might make it difficult for the organization to not want to lock him down long term. - I actually loved something we heard from the coach today. He was asked about winning 5-4 comparatively to winning the low scoring games that they had in the first round and coach basically just said, you know, look, I love to win either way, but the thing is when you win 2-1, I think it shows resolve from your group and he alluded to saying, I don't think, I don't think our guys are chasing points. And if you start chasing points, you're gonna get yourself into trouble. That's when you're pushing, that's when you're forcing things, that's when you're opening up too much and it gets you into trouble next thing, you know, you're giving up goals against. I feel like our team doesn't do that. And it's the opposite of what this team used to be before Rick Talkett was here. And it's in line with, you know, things JT Miller has said in the past, like, if I play well, points are gonna come, I'm not worried about it. I've played on teams and he references the early career New York Rangers teams that he played on where guys didn't score a bunch of points, but they were a great team and they were really hard to beat. And it feels as though this team has taken that on in the second half. Yeah, sure, first half of the season, everybody was getting their points. JT ended up with over 100 points on the season. Great, career high for him, but in the second half, you see how much their point totals came down and they've found ways to have success in different ways. It feels like that's helping them right now because the way they've won in the playoffs has been a lot different from how they won in the regular season, regular season. They built a lot of early leads and then lived on those. Here in the playoffs, no team has led less than the Vancouver Canucks have in the games. They were trailing a lot against Nashville. They trailed a lot last night and still found ways to win. It's that resolve, that no panic, that idea of we're just gonna stick playing to our game that has done them wonders so far in these playoffs. This is the identity they forged now, right? The word is resolved and I love that talk had used it because that's what we've seen from this team, right? They don't get overly frustrated, they don't fall apart. They've had some moments where they've lost some leads and everything, but they've never been in a situation where the game's unraveling for them. It could have been really easy for that to happen last night. Yeah, and it didn't. Those two goals when you had been pressing really hard for an equalizer, they just scored two goals and it was like 30 some odd seconds. But you know what it is though too? So now this is game 89, regular season and post season for this group together. That's what having done repeating the years process for almost 90 games and it becoming who you are and it becomes muscle memory. There's those lead teams that they've been together for eight years and they still haven't figured this out. You know what I mean? 100% you're right and that's why the group deserves a lot of credit and talk it when he was asked about that today really deflected and gave the credit to the players and said hey, I've told them what the pillars are but I'm not repeating myself anymore. The players are the guys that are spreading that message now, they're doing the work for me. So he's passing off that responsibility or passing off the praise but that doesn't happen unless Rick Talkett and that coaching staff gets the players to buy into such a high degree that they take the type of ownership to they themselves being the conveyors of the message the coach is sending and they are the ones that are policing themselves, right? And if this is truly the growth that they're exhibiting and this is who they truly are, we'll see what happens to the rest of this round but maybe a new era of Canucks hockey and professional Canucks hockey is upon us now and it looks a lot different than anything you've seen in recent history and it could be a real formidable force in the National Hockey League if these guys can keep this going for a few years because these are the types of teams that get to Stanley Cup finals that play this type of hockey and are able to get through these types of challenges, right? Have that type of leadership and maybe this year isn't the year you do that but you're showing the makings of being capable of doing so. - Well, you're going to need that. They needed it against Nashville and they needed it last night in a game where they were right there and turns up you look at the scoreboard you're going to get for once like, hey, what the heck's happened here but really impressive how this team has evolved into that and I liked Quinn Hughes saying last night yet, Rick has really helped us get the stink out of here. - Yeah, I mean, they were so used to losing but also there was a lot of stat chasing, you know? It was funny, the other day I had a few people respond to me on Twitter being like, you were so negative the last few years, you're acting like, you know, people are counting the Canucks out, you've been one of the more negative people. I'm like, well, what was there to be overly positive about or about a team that was playing selfish hockey for the most part? I used to rant on the post game show about how these guys are chasing stats, blowing the zone, skirting responsibilities, getting out of shots, flumbling, mingling in front of their net, not being committed, staying out for way too long and a shift, taking lazy line changes, not picking up their teammates. And it's like, you want me to sit here and praise this effort? But now it's- - There's nothing to praise. - It's completely different. They did a lot of good things and it got like 1920, not to, you know, do the revisionist history here again, but, you know, in 1920 when they made the bubble run or whatever, they exhibited good things but after that it fell apart. - Yeah. - And then it was pretty bad for three years and that stink that Hughes is referring to is, he's really talking about three years, 2020 to 2021 until 2023. - Yeah. - Like those three seasons he's talking about, which led to what we saw last year at being an absolute disaster to begin the season, so bad that they played themselves out of a playoff spot, 15 games into the season. - Yeah. And, you know, if you really want to make the argument, they didn't even show that during the strong run that they had under Bruce Boudreau because anytime they had a really big game that could have seen them get into a playoff spot or solidify their chance at making the playoffs while they were making that run and had over 100-point pace under Bruce Boudreau, they would fall flat on their face and have a terrible performance. - But also now for the guys who are the leaders, the core guys who've been here through the stink that Hughes mentioned, now you've seen both sides of it. You know what it's like? You know what bad, stinky hockey and culture is and what successful culture is. - Yeah. And I think that's a lesson for the group that you never want to get back to being that stinky group again. - A couple of texts. Wade and Langley and Keith both asking about Ian Cole and his game won performance. Keith wondering if Cole would get benched. I don't see that happening. The coaching staff, I feel like Rick Talkett, Rick Talkett, Ian Cole is a huge part of his decor and his leadership group. - And Cole is going to have some moments and he's had some moments. That was a bad like first 30 minutes right last night. There was no sugar cold, you know? Like he had a really rough night. - It was bad and there was also bad luck on top of it that just it magnified the bad that was going on. - If he didn't have a good first round and a lot of good moments in the first round, maybe the caution would be a bit greater from the coaching staff. I think he's going to have to string together a couple of those games for him to be an option to not play. - It would take, like if no injury is involved, I still think it would take quite a bit to see Noah Julesen get a chance here in these playoffs again after he filled in for Tyler Myers in game two of the opening round. Some more texts, Liam and Kukwetlam. P.D. had a lot of good looks last night and it seems like his game is on the up and up. I hope he can build on this momentum. What do you guys think? There was a lot to like in Pedersen's game. You know, I liked that he played with conviction. I don't think we've seen that enough from him in the playoffs and even more recently going all the way back into the regular season. But there was actually one moment where I was like, man, we don't often see this from Alias Pedersen. I don't know if they showed it on TV because it happened a little bit away from the play and I was just kind of following what Pedersen was doing. He was on the ice with McDavid and they're back behind the Canucks net. And as the puck goes away, Pedersen just gives McDavid an extra little shot in the back, gives him the lumber across the back. And McDavid was like, you could see him grimace and be like, oh, and then he looked up. He's like, what, that was Pedersen? At least that's what I imagined. It's like, what's the guy too? And then he slowly went back to the bench kind of like, trying not to show that the crossjack hurt him a little bit, but he was taken aback that Pedersen would be the guy that did that and it just, you know, it felt like, to me, it felt like Pedersen buying into the hole. Here's the kind of things you got to do in the playoffs. A hundred percent and especially when you're not producing at the level that you need to be, you have to find other ways to contribute. And he did last night in many ways. And one of them was being physical. And even the coach mentioned in the third period, him throwing a couple of big hits and getting in there into the mix. And right away, like he was in the mix the entire night. And that's how it's gonna have to be. Like if you are going to beat Edmonton and you won in the first game and the template is right there for you. Lindholm sure got a lot of ice time against McDavid. But Pedersen was out there against them. Miller was out there against them. Hughes was out there against them. Zadora was out there against them. It really was by committee. And they came at them in waves. And when you have capable two-way players playing their best defensive hockey, that makes it really difficult for the opposition. And that's really the big advantage having Lindholm and the roster help has too. We're talking about a Selke finalist caliber two-way player. Who's playing at that type of level now in the playoffs all the center for this team. That's a massive, massive ace up your sleeve. And McDavid is going to be better than what we saw last night. - Yes. - But if there is a pathway here that if the Canucks play the way they did in many ways against them and repeat that type of process against them, they can make it really difficult for him five on five. There isn't much you could do sometimes on the power play and that's maybe where he will do most of his damage. And that's kind of where he's done most of his damage against the Canucks. It's been on the power play five on five. He's kind of struggled. - Canucks did get away with a lot. I felt like last night. And of course only taking the one penalty which happened in the first 30 seconds of the game did help their cause last night. But wonder if they'll get as favorable a whistle in game two tomorrow night. Landon Ferraro is going to join us former NHLer being a, well, he's been an analyst for us here during these playoffs and continues to join us weekly. We'll get his take on game one and what types of adjustments we might see as the series goes along. Landon Ferraro joins us next on Canucks Central. (upbeat music) - Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drans. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to two on Sportsnet 650. Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - We're back on Canucks Central in Stan Reicho's Satyar Shop. Keep the texts coming in. Canucks playoff coverage on Sportsnet 650 is brought to you by Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Soar feet, what are you waiting for? Let's bring in our next guest, former NHLer Landon Ferraro joining us weekly here on Canucks Central to give his thoughts on the Stanley Cup playoffs. Thanks for this Landon, how are you? - I'm doing great. Join the sunshine. How are you guys doing? - Yeah, the weather's been perfect for playoff hockey in the spring here in Vancouver. As Rick Tockett said today, you know, the Canucks are still coming back down to Earth after last night's comeback. You know, I thought the Canucks were doing a lot of good things, even at 4-1, it felt a little harsh that the score line was that. I just, I didn't know if I saw them coming all the way back from that despite playing well to that point. - Yeah, I know, and it's been funny because they've done it a few times now. And, you know, like there's the old saying of, you know, you always stick with it until the very end, no matter what happens. And the Canucks did exactly that last night. Like, they stuck to their game and they kept going, kept going, and then they're right back into it. And all of a sudden, just like you've seen in, you know, quite a few games across the whole playoffs this year is a couple goals coming very close together for lead changes. It's entertaining. - It really isn't entertaining. And I think, you know, for a Canucks team that has been kind of counted out in this series by most prognosticators, being able to come back from a 4-1 deficit to win, not to say that they're sitting here and worrying about what other people are saying, but that has to also be a huge confidence boost to your entire process, doesn't it? - Yeah, for sure. I mean, was it a perfect game? No, it wasn't. But at the same time, they did enough and stuck with it to where they came back on a very good hockey team that has a lot of firepower. So now if you can piece the rest of it together, like it only builds your confidence going forward. They've already know that they've played them well through the series, through the regular season. You know, and things change when playoffs come, but they showed once again, it doesn't really matter what happens. If we stick with it, we give ourselves a chance. - They held McDavid without a shot on goal last night. First time that's happened in his playoff career, we know like it's only a matter of time before McDavid gets his, right? That's who he is, right? But just how difficult is it to slow him down on the ice and how much of it is actually a team effort rather than just one guy doing the job? - Yeah, I mean, they did an unbelievable job of giving him not much space all over the place. There was a little bit in the first where, you know, zone time, you know, in the Canucks end that, you know, you could feel that they're almost giving them a little too much space. And the rest of them almost sitting back and like, I don't want to get beat right away. So I'll sit back a little and it's tough to play like that, especially against someone. Skilled as McDavid and, you know, a bunch of the other guys on that team are. But, you know, there's even a play later in the third. That he, McDavid starts to break away and I can't remember which deal it was, but he turns and he gets another pivot on him and pokes it down the, you know, past McDavid again. Like, they did such a good job of taking everything away from him. And like you said, he's going to get his, like, he's going to have his impact on the series. He's going to get his points. But if you can make him really have to earn every single one of those, you're giving yourself a better and better chance. - And, you know, you're so right about how good they were with their sticks and how they defended him. Her only had a play like that too on him and it looked like he was about to get an edge and then drive towards the net and he was able to knock the puck off of his stick. And in terms of how he's going to adjust 'cause he likes to carry the puck through the neutrals on, gather some speed and really drive through guys. And it connects to a really good job of ushering him into tough spaces. They close him up at the blue line a few different times. What are other ways he can get through that? And how much more difficult does it get for a player to not be able to do the things he's comfortable doing and having to adjust to doing different things to be successful? - Well, I mean, it's tough to see what I'm about to consider and we don't know the status of dry side all yet, but even with him out, they have a lot of players that can really move and can push the pace as well. You know, if you can start letting some other guys carry the weight a little bit and let McDavid get lost just for a little bit, just for an extra half second somewhere, you might be able to find a little better lane for himself to where he can get a bit more space when he gets it. 'Cause right now, almost every time he touches the puck, there's someone within a stick length of 'em. So it makes it really tough. It doesn't matter how skilled you are. If someone is right in your face at all times, it's really hard to accomplish anything. So just sticking to that, but at the same time, I just feel like for almost any player in the league, you can kind of game plan, okay, we can do this, we can do that. At the end of the day with McDavid, I feel like it's almost, okay, we did a really good job here. Well, he's gonna figure out a way to find space. He's a different type of talent and it is what it is. You try and minimize as much as you can, but it's really the best you could do. - For as much as the Oilers were made to be the favorite in this series and look, well deserved, they ran through the LA Kings. After they made the coaching change, they were, I think, the best team in the league by record. But last night, I think, exposed some of their weak spots on the roster, right? Nurse and Cece, you've had some tough times in the playoffs the last couple of years. They got exposed, we're on the ice for four, the five goals against. And I felt like with the Lindholm line going as it was, in Pedersen having a better game, the Canucks showed to have a little bit more depth through their forward group as well. Did you see it that way? - Yeah, and I think something that the Canucks can do that some other teams don't as well is they can really skate with them. Like, you use that example of Huronic matching McDavid's speed while he's going down the right side deep into the Vancouver end, and he can keep up with them. We don't, you know, the Canucks don't need everyone to make the perfect play all the time, but if you can have guys that skate, it allows you to make a mistake. You know, with different parts, the rain can still recover from it and stay with it. You know, there's, you know, in the LA series, you could just feel that momentum building for Edmonton where it was just wave after wave, and LA just couldn't push back on it. And Vancouver last night, like that game could very well have gotten away from them, yet they kept pushing and they can skate with them, so it allowed them to get themselves back into the game. I think that's the biggest thing for the Canucks right now is them getting their feet moving, which they're doing a great job at, and just go from there. - Yeah, and I think they did a tremendous job on the forecheck as well. And one of the things that JT spoke to us about after the game on the post-game show was, Edmonton is more conventional with how they defend and how they play compared to how the national predators played, and that made it a bit easier for them to, I think, you know, have the extra forechecker going, because at times with how aggressive Nashville was, they had to be careful not to be beaten off the top, pretty much, it's almost like in football, you kind of keep your safety a bit deeper, making sure that you're not going to get beat deep because of how aggressive they're going to be to take the top off of you. So I do think the Canucks almost were able to play their game a bit better against Edmonton than they were against Nashville last night. - For sure, and you know, you brought up PD play and probably his best game of the playoffs so far, and, you know, it's a different style this series, you know, at least in game one, you know, there's a lot more open ice, there's a lot more free-wailing and skill being brought into it, you know, that series against Nashville felt like we were watching, you know, a devil's game from 2000 to different points, like they were just so, you know, both teams were so concerned about giving anything up, that it was a lot of sitting back and very defensive, and this series, you know, in the opening game is a lot of skating and it allows PD to get moving, and, you know, I thought he had a couple of really good chances, you know, we miss about one time around the power play, like, you know, that's right there for him. There's a couple other plays where he just seems more confident with them, and, you know, he's proven he can play against teams that play hard and it's tough to find space, but, you know, it's no secret right now that he's struggling to find his offense and find his game. This series might be the series that allows him to get moving, just with the extra space and you can see he's getting his confidence back a little, at least it appeared to me last night. - Well, he just shot first mentality, maybe is the word, but he was, you know, more convicted in taking space and taking his shot when he had those opportunities where it just, it felt like he was passing a lot of those opportunities up in the opening round. - Yeah, and, you know, that just goes to confidence. When you're not feeling that you're yourself and able to do things that you're used to being able to do, well, now you get into a chance, maybe it's a little too on one or a quick turnover and you're going at the net and you're a shooter that can score, but you haven't in a while, and now you're, well, I know JP can score all throat over there, I know Besser can score all throat over there. Like you trust everyone else but yourself. Like you need, he's at the point now where, like he needs to convince himself that he is the player he is. And it seemed like last night that, you know, the switch didn't fully go, but it definitely got halfway and it looks like it's teetering to be turned on for him. - Yeah, I mean, if they get him going, it just changes things so much offensively for this team moving forward in this series, but being able to have those three centers, being as good as they are defensively with Linholm, Pedersen Miller, and then even Blueger has your fourth line center. He's more than capable as a fourth line center and even if he's out there, a shift or two against the other team's top line, you can live with it, but that's got to be really difficult for the top guys in Edmonton, if Pedersen plays the way he can play defensively. Linholm has the silky type of impact that he's shown he can have and JT does this thing. That's going to be really difficult for even dry, subtle, and McDavid to be facing those guys every single shift. - For sure, I mean, going into the series, you're kind of looking at it and trying to gauge how everything's going to play out and you're looking at both rosters and you keep going back to like David and Drycidal and you're like, I just don't see how you can get by them. Like they're just such a force. And yet the Canucks are so deep that they just keep pressuring and they just keep going at you that Edmonton, they need their depth to start really to be pushing back now. Like you need to see Kane start making a difference. Perry being that, you know, getting in front of the net and you know, having some stuff going off and we're creating like, they're going to need some help because it's getting harder. And as you go through playoffs, it gets harder and harder for the top end guys to be that, you know, that they were through the regular season. That's why, you know, you always remember depth players from playoff runs because they're the ones that end up scoring the big goals it seems like because someone has to do it in it and the top guys are getting so focused on that it opens up a bit of space for the other guys. - Well, I mean, I don't expect the Canucks to sweep this series and have, you know, an eight game win streak on the Oilers this season but I do wonder like, is there, can there be a psychological advantage of some kind that the Canucks have on Edmonton? Right now having beaten them all four times in the regular season and coming back to beat them in the fashion that they did last night? - For sure there is and Edmonton guys can tell you all day that it doesn't matter is only the regular season and it was only game one, we messed up, we gave them that one and we'll be fine but it doesn't matter who you are, you know in the back of your head that a little, you know, a goal goes in or something happens and it reminds you of the second game of the season that you played them like, man, that happened there too. That's kind of weird and then you move on and then something else kind of sparks your memory. Like it, things will pull you back to where you don't want to go to. You know, it's interesting how it works of, you know, in that instance where you want to keep moving forward yet it takes such a hard mentality to force that stuff away, that it is gone, it doesn't matter at this point but it's there 100% and, you know, I want to say it was the first time I was talking to you guys that, you know, you're going into playoffs and you're talking about the Canucks and, you know, would we all be happy at the beginning of the season if the Canucks just made the playoffs after the last few years and of course we'd all be happy with that and, you know, now they're in the second round like they're playing with relatively no pressure. You know, Edmonton's the team that, you know, this is their year they need to break through and really push again, right? Like it's a great position to be in. That's a huge emotional win last night and, you know, they have all the excitement behind them and it's just move on to the next game, no. One, it's such a big opportunity all of a sudden and if you want to piece together a pathway to win a series like this against a team like Edmonton, you need to have those things kind of snowball against Edmonton and you gain confidence so if the Canucks come out and play the same way in game two and take a lead, like that's going to make it, we really put Edmonton into a tough spot. Like Edmonton, game two might really be make or break for Edmonton in this series, not to say it's over at that point but in terms of like psychological edge, like you have a tough game in game two, that's going to be tough to overcome. - For sure and then you have guys that have been in Edmonton for a number of years and have gone on a couple of runs with them that they're feeling everything that the other guys that haven't been there as long have and now they're squeezing their sticks a little more, we have to get through, we have to get through. Like our window is closing, just like every team as they make runs and their teams get better, like they only have a certain number of years to really compete till everything everyone starts earning too much and you've got to break the team apart. Like they have a lot going on and a lot of pressure on them right now, if the Canucks can get out to a quick start and hopefully have something happen that can start making Edmonton question, oh man, we're in it again, then it's going to be a good spot. - For Edmonton, tough way to lose that one, obviously. Is there adjustments that you think Nablock can make? If you're the coach, do you not want to make too many adjustments, try not to show any panic to your group, what do you expect the coach to show here? - I mean, I think he talks to him a little bit about taking the foot off the gas a little bit, but at the same time, we can make all these great points for why the Canucks won and everything is great that way, but if I'm sitting in Edmonton's room and I'm talking to those guys, I'm showing them new John Hopkins rape before the goal against that goes off the crossbar that still doesn't have any idea that it came back out the short side, right? Like there's that play. I'd showed Skinner's goal against on Garland and you almost have a laugh at it of like is Skinner gonna let that in again? And you know he's gonna speak up and say not a chance, right? Like the game was still right there for them. There's a couple of things that popped out that obviously they didn't like how it turned out, but I mean, it's playoff hockey at the end of the day. Yeah, it hurts because the game was there and you punted it away, but at the end of the day, it's one game and move along. - I wanted to get your thoughts on Nikita Zadorov as well. It was interesting listening to the coach today speak about how he's elevating in the playoffs. He said he was good in the regular season, but it's another level to his game and others on the squad have commented similar things about Zadorov so far in the postseason. What is it about certain guys that can just all of a sudden find that other level in the playoffs? And when you look at Zadorov and say like, if you can do this, why don't you do this more consistently? Like why isn't this you on a more consistent basis? - I mean, I feel like for a guy like him, the reason he can't keep this type of level up consistently through an entire season is that's a lot of work on a massive, massive body, right? Like this, and I know he's not 38, but like Scott Stevens towards the end of his career was like he wouldn't touch anyone through the regular season and then soon as game one started, that first guy that came across center ice was dead, right? Like he was saving his body. Like for Zadorov, you see the offensive side coming in, but to be able, even last night, like he makes the play down in the defensive corner and then he's the fourth man joining once he made the cut up and threw it back for him on his goal, right? Like that's a long way for him to cover. Like that's a lot of effort for him to do that for an entire season is probably asking a lot, but he's someone that carries himself with some arrogance on the ice in the best possible way that I can say that. Like he's so sure of himself and you could see he's having fun and as things get tough and there's battles start picking up like he's got that smile on his face last night, he's got his helmet that's hanging off the back of his head when him and Kane are kind of popping back and forth and he's sitting there with a big smile on his face, right? Like you can tell he loves this hockey right now. Yeah, and coaches actually made this comment a few times too and just before we let you go, like how Zadorov is great in the room, he keeps the mood light, he's chirping everybody. How essential are those types of guys to keeping a mood light? Like just the guys that are busting each other's chops at all times. It's huge, like, you know, everything is so serious and it's so much pressure and the NHL playoffs and there's all this build up. Like you need to be able to relax and still have your normal game day and things going on before the game where yes, you're serious and you're getting focused but man, like it still is a game. Like you still have to be loose, you have to have fun to be able to play it. Yeah, you're in a battle and you might get an extra pop in the face but man, like I'm sitting a year out of retirement now and like I never thought I'd say I kind of miss getting popped in the nose once in a while, right, like, that's what makes the game so exciting. I don't like in the dressing room, a guy like him, he can bring so much because, you know, like you're saying, he's light and he's fun and he can joke around but you know as soon as his toe touches the ice, man, he's ready. He's a gamer, right? Like those are the guys you need to do it because, you know, it doesn't matter what he's doing, he's ready as soon as he's on the ice. I'm guessing Brad Marshon was that kind of guy. 100% and you just had no idea. It took me a couple weeks for sure to figure out if he was joking or seriously giving it to me and he just realized, man, that little smile creeps onto his face and that's how he gets himself ready. Just warming up his chirps in the room as well. Landon, it's always great having you on now. We'll talk to you again next week. Thanks for this. All right, have a good one. There he is, Landon Ferraro joining us here on Knock Central and, you know, these are the essentials that playoff teams kind of have. I know, you know, Brad Marshon is not thought of, well, around these parts, but I mean, his track record kind of speaks for itself with the Boston Bruins and how much success they've had and you just know that he's that kind of guy. And, you know, one of the first things Tock had said when he took over the job is like, we got a quiet team and he still says they're a little bit quiet, but bringing in a guy like Zadorov seems to have helped that. Miller, Garland, like those guys are chirping each other all the time and doing those kinds of things. But I think because the Canucks were a young team and a still very developing leadership group, they maybe didn't have those guys around the room that kept the mood light, constantly busting each other's chops, those kinds of things like Zadorov's impact goes beyond the on ice impact. Well, and that's where the intangibles come in and I'm never big on, hey, sign a guy for intangibles. If you are a impactful hockey player who brings intangibles, perfect. - Yes. - And as that was Zadorov is showing, right? And so my only hesitancy on him and be like, hey, we watch him now in seven playoff games with the Canucks, he's been tremendous. And given whatever he wants, you have to make him be a player that stays here. - He was also a healthy scratch not long ago. - Yeah, and now I will say. - Healthy maintenance, whatever. - Now I will say the only reason they did that is because they had the luxury of doing so, you know what I mean? But it was enough for coach to bring it up that it got Zadorov's attention and he's a different player since. So clearly it worked as if it was a healthy scratch, right? So it had the desired effect not only to getting the rest, but inspiring the player to be even better. With this coaching staff, you probably feel like they can get the best out of him. But the only thing I worry about sometimes is we're seeing a guy do what he's doing now, but how often can he do this? Is this something that he's showing in one playoff run or is this something that every year you get the playoffs? This is the version of him you're going to get. We see employers have a good seven, eight, nine game run in the playoffs before, but then not be able to string that together in other years. So that will be my only hesitancy 'cause we never seen him this good. - Yeah. - You know, like he's been good before about this is like different level of good. And you can get at yourself in the trouble overextending on something like that. But I do agree with you with the intangibles, with how he's playing, what he's showing. Like he's showing to be a potentially indispensable part of this group. I mean, just in like group chats with friends that aren't in the business that are just watching the Stanley Cup playoffs. They're just like, I can't wait for my GM to overpay for Nikita Zadorov right now. - Yeah. - Like that's how other hockey fans are watching the playoffs right now. They're watching this guy be like, this guy is a freight train. He's hitting everything that moves, scoring big goals. This is the guy every single hockey fan wants to have on their team. - These are the cards might let him walk. - Yeah, I mean, it all comes down to how much money is he going to demand. I believe he likes it in Vancouver. I think it's clear about what he's said himself. And if he likes it, there's a good chance his family likes it in Vancouver. And for a guy who's not had a lot of stability in his NHL career, Buffalo, Vancouver, Buffalo, Chicago, Colorado, Calgary, now Vancouver. I think he wants to settle down somewhere as well. I think he'd love for it to be Van. And I think the Canucks are going to make a real run at this. Like I think once the season ends here, like I think the Canucks will refocus and take a real run at it here. It's probably not going to be everything he wants money-wise. - But Ken there might have to take a bit of a hometown discount to stand. - A little bit, but I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets like north of four million, like four and a half or something. Like we're talking about, you know, 20 plus million, right? Like that's what this contract's going to look like. And we'll see how much he loves in a Vancouver. 'Cause if he really loves in a Vancouver, they can make it work. - A player like that, his kind of size, showing up on a big stage in the Stanley Cup playoffs. You run the risk of like the money getting silly in free agency. Now it's good for Nikita Zadorov, but it makes it that much more difficult for the Canucks to be able to keep the player. It's Dan Ricio and Satyar Shah. We're in the Kintec Studio, Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider. Powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Soarfeet, what are you waiting for? We're going to get to overrated underrated. But first, the goalhorn. (dramatic music) The goalhorn brought to you by Rewind Beer Co. Find their big West Coast IPA at a liquor store near you and celebrate big plays in a big way. The Carolina Hurricanes trying to get one back on the New York Rangers down 2-0 in the series, but they do have a 1-0 lead here on the Rangers at the end of one period of play and into the second frame. The goal from Jake Genssel, his fourth of the playoffs. Currently Carolina outshooting New York 22 to 14. They did make a goalie change ahead of this one. Piotr Kachetkov is starting ahead of Freddie Anderson. So far, Igor Shastirkin has been very, very good for the Rangers to keep this at just a one goal deficit. Overrated underrated is next on Kynoc Central.
